"Maintaining Solaris Systems with Solaris Live Upgrade and Update on Attach," (login or registration required) a Sun BluePrints Online paper, explains how to use Solaris Live Upgrade and the Solaris Update on Attach feature, with Solaris Zones, Solaris Cluster, and the ZFS file system for software maintenance in general and the application of operating system patches in particular.

The authors state that the improved reliability of current systems means that unplanned downtime is rare. In contrast, planned downtime is considered almost unavoidable, and it is estimated that over 90% of application downtime is planned. While some planned downtime can be attributed to hardware issues, maintaining, upgrading, and replacing application and system software typically accounts for most of the planned downtime. Solaris Live Upgrade and the Solaris Update on Attach feature can each reduce the planned downtime required for operating system and application software upgrades.

This article addresses the following topics:

• “Using Solaris Live Upgrade” on page 3, explains how to upgrade standard or clustered systems using Solaris Live Upgrade.

• “Using Solaris Update on Attach” on page 10, explains how to upgrade standard or clustered systems using the Solaris Update on Attach feature.

The authors have targeted this article at Solaris system administrators, infrastructure architects, datacenter architects, and anyone who requires detailed knowledge of nondisruptive upgrade techniques and technologies in Solaris. The article expands on information currently available on upgrading the Solaris OS and assumes a familiarity with Solaris 10 OS, the ZFS file system, and Solaris Zones. In addition, it covers topics that are only relevant for those familiar with the deployment of Solaris systems clustered with Solaris Cluster software.

The paper points out that virtualization technologies such as Solaris Zones create immense opportunity for a more cost-effective, efficient, flexible, and reliable datacenter environment, at the cost of increased complexity and some application interdependency. The maintenance requirements of the ever-increasing number of virtual operating system environments create challenges at both the technical and administration levels.

At the technical level, the systems must be upgraded to help ensure stability and functionality, the authors assert. At the administrative level, the large number of stakeholders of the interdependent applications create serious challenges in planning and coordinating agreed maintenance downtime.

The maintenance technologies described in this Sun BluePrints article remove many of the interdependencies between applications and reduce the extent of the planned downtime required for maintaining operating environments. These technologies reduce the datacenter maintenance challenges and risks while increasing the ability to meet the businesses users’ service level requirements.

For both Solaris Live Update and Solaris Update on Attach, the authors provide commands overview and examples. They discuss methods for patching and upgrading Solaris Cluster Nodes, as well as for moving local zones and performing Update on Attach in a Solaris Cluster environment.

More Information

Patch Checked Advanced (PCA) -- Solaris OS Patch Management Utility"

Prescription: Solaris Feature, Live Upgrade [...read more...]

		fullsource
Print Email Current Profile Archive Blog Generate newsletter